The kids love ravioli, but I can't fathom spending as much as the store wants for them so I've been making them myself the last few weeks. I thought I'd share the recipe here for those that aren't scared to make the kitchen a little messy. This is a great way to hide vegetables in the kids meal as they don't usually pick through it to see what is inside. My favorite veggie so far to hide in it is carrots as it adds a sweetness to the recipe.Pasta:2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour1/3 c. water2 eggs1 tbsp. olive or salad oil1 tsp. saltIn large bowl with wooden spoon, stir 2 1/4 cups flour with remaining ingredients to make a stiff dough. On well floured surface knead dough until smooth and not sticky, about 20 minutes. Wrap dough with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes for easier rolling. Makes 1 pound noodles.Filling:1 cup ricotta cheese 1/2 cup cottage cheese 1/4 cup parm. cheese 1 tsp garlic 1 tsp basil 1/4 cup shredded veggies (spinach, carrots, zuchinni, sweet potato *ideas* Optional: 1/2 lb ground turkey or beef Mix together in a medium sized bowl and set aside until after you have rolled out the pasta dough. Cut your dough in quarters and roll out into rectangles either with the pasta machine or just your standard rolling pin. I only have a rolling pin so that is what I use. Spread flour onto your rolling surface so dough doesn't stick to it. Roll it out until it is thin enough that you can see your hand behind it if it was held up to a window. My rectangles are usually about 8x12 or so. There are two ways to go from here. The first is to cut your dough into 2x4 inch squares and put 1 tsp of filling mixture just on the other side of the middle and seal by running a finger dipped in water on the edges. Flip the dough over itself and seal with a fork. These create cute little crescents or squares.The second way is to roll out two rectangles of the same size, put down 1 tsp of filling every 2 inches on the dough. Run a wet finger around each pile of filling and place second rectangle over the filling and run finger around all the piles of filling to seal it. Cut with either a serrated cutter, pizza cutter, or cookie cutter that fits over the filling and noodles.You can either cook right way by placing in a pot of boiling water for about 4-6 mins. The ravioli will float when it is finished. Or you can flash freeze by placing on cooling racks in the freezer until frozen (about 45 mins) then place in ziploc bag. Can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just pull out of freezer and place in boiling water until they float. (about 8-10 mins.) Coat with a sauce of your choice, serve with a salad and breadsticks.
20 months has gone so fast. Wasn't it just yesterday that we were trying to figure out how we were going to get all 3 kids to a sitter with the chance that there was something wrong with baby? 20 months ago Pickle didn't pass his NST, a scary proposition for any parent, but then to try and consider that there is no one to watch your other children if you end up in the hospital right away is even scarier. Giving birth should be a miracle that is enjoyed and the time spent with the new baby bonding should be stressfree, but this time around it was none of that. Bad things happened through the three days that I was in the hospital. Nicholas was to stay one extra night and I couldn't do that. Things just wouldn't have allowed it back at home. Nicholas was born with a hypospadias, two urethra holes. a simple fix supposedly, but somehow even this was botched up. He is looking at another surgery after this July to recorrect what was to be his recorrection. The skin didn't heal flat or in the manner it was supposed to. The one hole they tried to close up has reopened again, and he wont be a straight shooter yet. He also had his scrotum reattached and things lengthened. I know this isn't the most significant surgery out there. Babies are on the Operating table hours after birth for harder and worse things than this, but it is hard to be there when they put that mask on your baby and he is looking at you with wide open eyes scared.
He also has an asthma issue. Any time he has a cold he is put onto a nebulizer a few times a day. It is to the point that he loves to put the mask on and wont pull at it. He knows that it is going to help him, which is great, yet sad to know. His first treatment was when he was not wuite 4 months old due to a bad cold that stuck in his chest that the drs couldnt rule out RSV. Since then we have to pull this out every few months to use, sometimes for weeks at a time. Due to the inhaler and steroids he is a little bit smaller than kids his age. He is fitting quite comfortably in 12 month clothes, sometimes even 9 month clothes. Regardless of his size he has the spitfire of a normal 20 month old when it comes to his attitude. He is the first to scream sTOP of Mine when the other kids are playing rough. He also has the boys running and jumping on chairs when he comes after them with play swords or the light sabers. He just figured out this week how to climb onto chairs and our bed. He is in a big boy twin bed for the last three months. He also is starting to use the potty. I just can't imagine what it would be like not to have any diapers in the house, we've had them for over 7 years.
He amazes me with his growing vocabulary and need to voice his opinion. He'll tell us when he wants something or more often than not when he doesn't want anything. He has a love hate relationship with Veronica that is enough to make me pull out my hair some days. There is that twinkle in his eye that lets you know that he is schemeing his next plan of attack. Too funny and cute.Because he wasn't walking yet last fall he really wasn't able to experience the outside like the other kids have in the past, so when we go out now everything is what's that? or where did it go? as things blow around in the wind. He loves everything about balls: hitting, kicking throwing, and has one mean golf and hockey swing. His second favorite is sand...Just sitting and watching it fall through his fingers is sheer amazement. The wind through the dead leaves on the front tree leave him just staring for ten minutes at a time. He is all about seeing his world for the first time, something that the other three kids really never did. So I am once again seeing the small things around me . It is truely an uplifting experience.
If the next 20 months go as fast as these did, I hope that they can be as enjoyable and amazing.
Happy St Patricks day to everyone, even those honorary Irish leprechauns. The kids are having a great day and tying to think of ways to catch a Leprechaun. We are also enjoying some warm weather that will hopefully be bringing 70s later today.We've accomplished a lot in the house lately. The first floor has been painted though the colors are still in question. We've also finished organizing and going through the basement storage room. Shelves were built this last weekend, and two work benches. The garbage men wouldn't take the cardboard this week so i guess we will be hauling it somewhere later this week or next.On a frustrating note, the Envoy was broken into and the TomTom was stolen...really stinks, but oh well what are you going to do. Well back to the kids. I hope to post pics of the house in the next few days again.
The kids love ravioli, but I can't fathom spending as much as the store wants for them so I've been making them myself the last few weeks. I thought I'd share the recipe here for those that aren't scared to make the kitchen a little messy. This is a great way to hide vegetables in the kids meal as they don't usually pick through it to see what is inside. My favorite veggie so far to hide in it is carrots as it adds a sweetness to the recipe.
